"Charles N.Love"[1862-September 10,1946]

African American newspaperman,and early supporter of African American civil rights.In the early 1890s he worked as an agent to develop larger circulation for several newspaper,including the Austin Texas Citizen and the New York Age.In 1893,with Emmett J.Scott (an agent for the Houston Post),and Jack Tibbett (a railway mail clerk),Charles organized the Texas Freeman.Even though the newspaper was intended for African American readers,he financed it with white subscriptions.He received further financial backing from a white mayoral candidate,Baldwin Rice.In the Houston elections of 1896 the paper supported Baldwin for mayor.In support for African American support,the Houston Democratic Executive Committee allowed African Americans to vote in a night primary mounted specifically for African Americans.Baldwin won the election.From its inception the newspaper took on numerous controversial issues.In 1894,alarmed treatment inflicted upon African American prisoners arrested by the Houston police,Charles successfully led a fight for better treatment.In 1911,to protest ordinance prohibiting "colored people"hitching their horses and teams on downtown streets longer than thirty minutes,he purposely violated the law by leaving his horse in the prohibited area for eight years.After being arrested,he persuaded the city council to revoke the ordiance.During World War I he continued to criticize the treatment of African Americans by city and county officials.In 1917a "special commission"of Houston and War Department officials summoned Charles to appear to answer charges of hindering the war effort.After he defended himself,the commission cleared him of all charges.Through his column "The Man About Town"Charles often voiced his opinions about African American civil rights.The white primary became one of his majors targets.He sought to overturn the Terrel Election Law of 1903,which allowed local party officials to exclude African Americans from voting in primaries.In 1921,Charles William Nickerson,Jr.,and several others filed suit against G.W.Griffin,chairman  eventually it to the U.S. Supreme Court,which decided against the suit on technical considerations.Even though Charles lost the case,he had set in motion a twenty-three-year struggle by Houston African Americans against the white primary in Texas.He retired from management of the Texas Freeman when it merged with the Houston informer,in 1930.He remained active as an editor until his death.He was survived by his wife,Lilla.